“We speak,
Not because we are spoken to
But because we are not
We speak especially where people have refused
To hear us being spoken of.”
~ Cyndi Celeste, poet
As one of the only on-plantation enslaved burial sites in the entire Western Hemisphere, the Newton Burial Ground holds much cultural and historical significance to the island of Barbados. It is the largest and earliest slave burial ground in the island, home to the remains of 575 enslaved men, women and children who endured the harshness of slavery.
Newton Plantation, established by Samuel Newton in the 1660s, is located on the southernmost part of the island; the Burial Ground is close to the slave village that once existed within it.
The Newton Unsilenced project is an act of remembrance, paying homage to those enslaved persons buried at Newton Plantation. It also seeks to restore these lost ancestors to their rightful place of honour in the story of modern Barbados through the creative media compilation of dance, poetry, theatre, music, and visual art.
This booklet, Newton Unsilenced: Narratives Imagined, is aimed at school-aged children and contains photographs, poems for aspiring writers and slavery images as reference for our young historians. There are also questions and activities within to challenge discussion.
Newton Unsilenced: Narratives Imagined. Because their stories need to be heard.
